Electrical connector for small insulated wires



Feb. 7, 1967 w, THOMPSON 3,303,266

ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR FOR SMALL INSULATED WIRES Filed Oct. 25, 1964FIE-ILA :EII3 "5 INVENTOR.

WILLIAM A. THOMPSON ATTORNEYS United States Patent O 3,303,266ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR FOR SMALL INSULATED WIRES William A. Thompson, 5264Dent, San Jose, Calif. 95118 Filed Oct. 23, 1964, Ser. No. 406,062 2Claims. (Cl. 174-84) This invention relates to an electrical connectorfor making electrical connections between a pair of relatively smallinsulated conductors without having to strip the insulation therefrom.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved electricalconnector in the form of a bendable member having opposed surfaces whichare provided with staggered insulation piercing pointed contacts adaptedto pierce the insulation of a relatively small wire to make contacttherewith and to provide electrical connection between a pair of suchwires clamped between said opposed surfaces.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved electricalconnector a plurality of which may be used side by side for splicing theconductors of a multiple conductor branch cable to the conductors of amain multiple conductor cable without necessitating the cutting of anyof the conductors of the main cable and without necessitating thestripping of insulation from any of the conductors.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an improvedelectrical connector which may be clamped around the small conductors ofcables for connecting these conductors together without stripping theinsulation or cutting the conductors, said electrical connectors beingarranged side by side and being provided with insulation jackets toprevent the electrically conducting parts of adjacent connectors frommaking electrical contact.

A further object of this invention is to provide an electrical connectorthat may be used for splicing the conductors of one cable to those ofanother cable, said connectors being constructed so that they may beused efiiciently with small wires such as are used in telephone cableswithout requiring the stripping of insulation from the wires thusresulting in substantial savings in time and labor required to splicesuch cables.

Other and further objects of this invention will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art to which it relates from the following specification,claims and drawing, in which, briefly:

FIG. 1 is a side view of an electrical connector of this invention inthe open position;

FIG. 2 is an end view of the open electrical connector;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG.1 showing the manner in which the small insulated conductors arepositioned on the insulation piercing contact points of the electricalconnector;

FIG. 4 is a view of the electrical connector of this invention clampedwith a pair of small insulated wires clamped therebetween toelectrically connect the wires; and

FIG. 5 is a view of a multiple conductor main cable having theconductors of a branch cable connected thereto by a plurality-of theelectrical connectors of this in- 3,303,266 Patented Feb. 7, 1967 in theopposed surfaces are preferably staggered so that when a smallelectrical conductor 12 is positioned and clamped between these opposedsurfaces, the likelihood of the conductor being lodged between thepoints 11 is prevented and instead the insulation [13 thereof pierced bya sufficient number of the points to make good electrical contact withthe conductor 12. The staggering of the points 11 is important whereelectrical conductors 12 with diameter smaller than the distance betweenadjacent points 11 are clamped between the opposed surfaces so thatelectrical contact is made with the conductors by several of the points11. Conductors of such small size are encountered in telephone cable,for example, such as the cables 17 and 19 shown in FIG. 5. The points 11may be formed in the bendable member 10 by passing the material formingthis member through a suitable die that is the shape of a roller or thelike.

A reinforcing member 14 which is provided with a suitable plasticcoating 15 of insulating material is attached to the member 10 bybending the marginal parts 14a of this member 14 around the edges of themember 10, as shown in FIG. 3. The ends 15a of the insulation materialextend beyond both the member 10 and the member 14, as shown in FIG. 1,to form borders of insulation material which prevent metallic contactbetween adjacent electrical connectors when a plurality of suchconnectors is employed for connecting conductors of a branch cable suchas the branch cable 19 with the conductors of the main cable 17. Insplicing the conductors 20 of branch cable 19 to the conductors 18 ofthe main cable 17, the individual insulated conductors 20 of cable 19are paired with the individual insulated conductors 18 of the main cable17, with which they are to be connected and the electrical connectors ofthis invention are clamped over these paired conductors as shown in FIG.4 in the case of the insulated conductors 13 and 16. The pairedconductors are connected by clamping the electrical connectors with ahand tool such as a pair of pliers so that the points 11 of eachconnector pierce the insulation of the paired conductors andelectrically connect these conductors together. This procedurefacilitates the connecting the conductors 20 of cable 19 to theinsulated conductors 18 of main cable 17 and results in considerablesaving in time and labor since it is not necessary to strip theinsulation off of the conductors, nor is it necessary to twist theb-ared conductors together and solder the joint.

While I have shown and described a preferred form of the invention, itwill be apparent that the invention is capable of variation andmodification from the form shown so that the scope thereof should belimited only by the proper scope of the claims appended thereto.

What I claim is:

1. An electrical connector for connecting small insulated wires togetherwithout stripping insulation therefrom comprising a thin metallic memberof electrically conducting material bent upon itself to provide opposingsurfaces thereto which are adapted to be further bent toward each otherto clamp small insulated electrical conducting wires therebetween, saidopposing surfaces having sharp points facing each other pressedtherefrom in staggered rows, said sharp points being spaced apart bydistances not exceeding the diameter of the small insulated wire clampedbetween said surfaces so that said small wire cannot be clamped betweensaid surfaces without at least several of said staggered pointspenetrating the insulation thereof to make contact with the wire,insulating material positioned on the outside of said thin metallicmember to cover said member when said member is clamped on said wires,said insulating material extending beyond the sides of said thinmetallic member to prevent adjacent ones of said members from contactingeach other when a plurality of such members is employed in side by siderelation in "a cable joint, and a reinforcing member clamped around saidthin metallic member, said reinforcing member being substantiallycoextensive with said thin metallic member and side portions of saidreinforcing member being folded over edge portions of said thin metallicmember.

2. An electrical connector as set forth in claim 1, furthercharacterized in that said insulating material com- 4 prises a coatingof plastic, the side portions of which are clamped in the folded overportions of said reinforcing member.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,242,256 3/1966Jugle 17484 LEWIS H. MYERS, Primary Examiner.

1. AN ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR FOR CONNECTING SMALL INSULATED WIRES TOGETHERWITHOUT STRIPPING INSULATION THEREFROM COMPRISING A THIN METALLIC MEMBEROF ELECTRICALLY CONDUCTING MATERIAL BENT UPON ITSELF TO PROVIDE OPPOSINGSURFACES THERETO WHICH ARE ADAPTED TO BE FURTHER BENT TOWARD EACH OTHERTO CLAMP SMALL INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONDUCTING WIRES THEREBETWEEN, SAIDOPPOSING SURFACES HAVING SHARP POINTS FACING EACH OTHER PRESSEDTHEREFROM IN STAGGERED ROWS, SAID SHARP POINTS BEING SPACED APART BYDISTANCES NOT EXCEEDING THE DIAMETER OF THE SMALL INSULATED WIRE CLAMPEDBETWEEN SAID SURFACES SO THAT SAID SMALL WIRE CANNOT BE CLAMPED BETWEENSAID SURFACES WITHOUT AT LEAST SEVERAL OF SAID STAGGERED POINTSPENETRATING THE INSULATION THEREOF TO MAKE CONTACT WITH THE WIRE,INSULATING MATERIAL POSITIONED ON THE OUTSIDE OF SAID THIN METALLICMEMBER TO COVER SAID MEMBER WHEN SAID MEMBER IS CLAMPED ON SAID WIRES,SAID INSULATING MATERIAL EXTENDING BEYOND THE SIDES OF SAID THINMETALLIC MEMBER TO PREVENT ADJACENT ONES OF SAID MEMBERS FROM CONTACTINGEACH OTHER WHEN A PLURALITY OF SUCH MEMBERS IS EMPLOYED IN SIDE BY SIDERELATION IN A CABLE JOINT, AND A REINFORCING MEMBER CLAMPED AROUND SAIDTHIN METALLIC MEMBER, SAID REINFORCING MEMBER BEING SUBSTANTIALLYCOEXTENSIVE WITH SAID THIN METALLIC MEMBER AND SIDE PORTIONS OF SAIDREINFORCING MEMBER BEING FOLDED OVER EDGE PORTIONS OF SAID THIN METALLICMEMBER.